A primary difference between high limits and low limits

[SpeakEasy]

A recent revelation, and my 2 cents on a primary distinction between success at high limits and low limits. These thoughts solidified as I sat in on a recent 2+2 Party $25 NL “private table,” and watched some solid players mow down the field by aggressively playing decent/mediocre hands and taking pots (this was a great learning experience for me). This post would be appropriate for a number of forums (fora?), but I know solid players read this forum and its geared toward higher-limit play.

At lower limits, many pots are lost due to passive players that call too much and win by luck or by accident. Example: the low limit NL player that calls all the way down with middle or bottom pair; he stays in the hand not because he has a read and believes that he has the best hand, but because his skill has not reached the level that tells him to fold the mediocre hands.

At the higher limits, many pots are lost due to aggressive players betting aggressively, and the other players muck because they may have decent, but not strong, hands. Example: aggressive player bets on the flop; I have middle or bottom pair and cannot call a pot sized bet with this mediocre hand.

This is a continuum, and there is no “bright line” between the extremes. Generally, the higher the limit, the better and more aggressive the players. However, exceptions abound at all levels and you need to adjust to each player individually (there are solid aggressive low-limit players, and bad passive high-limit players).

Adjustment at the lower limits -- not much adjustment needed. Time will smooth out bad luck. Keep playing your “A” game, stay aggressive, play position and generally stick to the good cards while occasionally mixing it up.

Adjustment at the higher limits -- here’s where I could use some more input. Being more aggressive is critical. The rule of “he who bets first takes the pot” is more applicable than at lower levels. Tightening up only goes so far, as your high cards frequently don’t hit. Getting a read on the opponent is more important (which I find fairly easy in live play but very difficult with on-line play).

More thoughts would be appreciated.

[CaptainObvious]

Well not entirely worthless, I DEEM THIS POST OBVIOUS.